IC : STARDUST, In-Character thread for Stardust Options

[HobbeGoblin]

Ernie is still rather amused as he wipes his t-shirt then eventually places the wet portions in his mouth to suck the beer out. Ernie walks over to the refrigerator and pulls two beers out, as he walks back to his seat he hands Jackie D a new one. Ernie is still grinning ear to ear.

[HankWS]

Hank looks over at Ludi with a very concerned expression. He takes a good look around.

Perception

[ Spoiler ]

15 11 08 04 01

"We need to go I don't believe that was who we think it was. Hopefully it wasn't traced, either way we should leave this area now." Hank grabs the phone and wipes it clean of all the areas that Ludi touched. He then makes his way to the vehical, looking back at Ludi "Please hurry my guts actin up, which usually means troubles comin." He glances around, "or worse its here. He then gets in the car.

[Qillin]

Jack hangs up and says to Slick "Hank said they had just called Charles and talked to someone. They thought he was the guy but did feel like something was wrong. They are coming back now. Did you find out anything in you little nap time there?

[HobbeGoblin]

Ernie has a bewildered look on his face." When did they talk to him? Moments ago i saw him asleep, i mean not more than...how long i been back in my meat body?" Ernie shakes his head. "When did they talk to him?"

[Qillin]

"You saw Charles asleep? Where? On the new they said he got arrested." Jack a little bewildered himself be what Slick said.

[Mister Juan]

Ludmila, following Hank's lead, gets in his van.

"Find me another payphone, some way off... Even if Mister Stone is compromised, we have to contact him. I just want to quiet down Jacky's suspicions that he isn't our employer."

[FrostyNSO]

Ludi and Hank

[ Spoiler ]

You guys get into the van and drive for about a half hour, finding a dilapidated looking payphone far from Jacky D's place.

[Mister Juan]

Ludmila proceeds in getting out of Hank's van. Glacing quickly back at him, she makes sure he's watching the surroundings while she makes the call. Wrapping her hand in her sleeve, she makes sure to set the call of voice only and dials Rick's number. Not being a lady who gets rid of her habits, she turns her recording implants on during the conversation.

[FrostyNSO]

Ludi and Hank

[ Spoiler ]

The phone rings, but eventually rolls over to voice mail.

[Mister Juan]

When the voice mail kicked in, Ludmila couldn't help herself but curse loudly. Leaving a message meant that anyone could hear it... something she didn't like at all. Before the recorder was activated, she hung up.

Shoving both her hands in her pockets, she walked back to Hank's vehicle.

"Fragging voice mail... Lets get back to D's place. We need to get moving, and fast."

[FrostyNSO]

Ludi and Hank

[ Spoiler ]

You guys get back into Hank's van and make way to Jacky D's place. A good half-hour later, you arrive.

[Qillin]

Jack hearing knocking at his door, walks over and asks "Who's there?" and looking through the peep hole. Seeing that it was hank and lUdi he undid the deadbolt and opened the door to let them in. "So whats up guy? Hank didn't say much on the phone when i told him Charles was shown getting arrested on the news. I t-voded it so you can watch it if you like." Jack going back and sits door in his chair.

[HobbeGoblin]

Ernie looks up from his lounging position and raises his beer towards the two new comers in a sign of hello. Ernie grins as looks at Ludi.Non chalantly "Oh I did a little checking around the Stone residence."

[Mister Juan]

Ludmila hated to waste time. She knew the Star was onto them, and that they needed to vent the heat... quick. Walking across the living room where Ernie and Jack were enjoying their beers, she threw her jacket on the couch. Stretching her arms wide, she cracked her neck from side to side and looked at the three men.

"As of now, we are to consider this operation compromised. Our payment has also probably been forfeited since Charles has been arrested. Our own identities have been compromised... I personally believe we have to go on with our objective. Capturing whoever is hiding behind all this will take the heat of our backs and salvage our reputation."

She turned toward Ernie.

"You get in touch with your people... whoever they are, and try to track the killer using the blood we collected at Kote's. "

She started, once again, to look for her pack of cigarette.

"Jacky; theoretically, Charles has given us the go ahead for phase two of the mission. We haven't been able to reach Rick... Since we have his address, you might want to check it out."

The woman glanced toward Hank.

"And you can go with him, in case he needs backup."

Picking up her computer, she sat on the floor itself, resting agaisn't the wall.

"I will be getting in touch with my people to see what I can get. You don't mind if I connect through you telecom unit Jacky?"

[Qillin]

"Sure go right ahead, I don't think it's been touched in over a year thou. But i think it still works. Slick what did you see at stones place? You said he was sleeping? Was there anyone else in his place? If hank and i were to go to his place to talk to him directly i want to know what we could expect if Stone doesn't like my face or what we would be discussing with him." Jack getting up to toss his empty beer in the trash.

[HobbeGoblin]

" A couple of Toughs, downstairs...not sure if they were wired or not...I can go back and peek though. Stone was asleep, and another was on a computer....I only did a small snoop job on there, anything in particular i should scout for?" The last was obviously directed at Ludi. "If i had the Yen i could post a watcher on Stone...harass him or just watch" Looking at Ludi slyly " Just a little bit of Fragging back might be fun"

[Qillin]

"I think thats good enough. Maybe 3 to 4 men + Stone, Hank and I could handle that if things got bad. Handle it enough to get the frag out of there can call for backup at least. But lets hope the mans reasonable and maybe know knows about us and we what are doing. Slick you should concentrate on that blood while Ludi does her thing with the computer and stuff." Pauses for any replies."Well if everything is set we might as well get going Hank." Jack stands up grabbing his coat and guns.

[Mister Juan]

Ludi starts working on the telecom to plug herself in the Matrix

"If you can keep the body count to zero, that would be great. If things ever get hot, call in here and I'm sure Slick will be glad to provide astral backup."

"Alright boys; lets make this right."

[Qillin]

Jack looks over at Ludi" I never plan on killing people it just has to happen sometimes, well I do plan on killing some times but that besides the point " then gives a big half smile with a wink to Ludi. "Lets go Hank"

[FrostyNSO]

Ludi

[ Spoiler ]

You plant yourself at Kote's computer and get to work. As you sift through the data, you are unable to find any electronic mail from anyone called Cain. In her trash bin, you find a boatload of deleted fan mail, but nothing threatening or more obsessive than what one would expect a model to receive. Next, you check her "saved" folder. Only 1 file, a document that appears to be terms for a contract. You read over it, finding that it is a contract to place Kote under Charles Whittington's management. Odd, since you found a copy of a signed contract placing her under Stone's mangagement lying on her desk earlier. Moving on to her calender, you find a date two days from now that is highlighted. You click it, and a short description pops up.

"C.W. contract. Gianelli's 8pm"

You attempt to find any more info and make a thorough sweep of the planner, but find nothing more. Next, you make some phone calls.

[ Spoiler ]

You call up Swarna, who answers suprisingly quickly. "Hey Ludi, I'm watching the news, and I'm hoping you're not involved with this Kote thing. You were asking me about this earlier and I'm not sure I want to get into this any deeper. If I'm going to do this, I need it to be worth my while." Swarna declares nervously. "Where are you anyways? You know the Star released a pair of sketches? One of them looks a lot like you if you know what I mean."

[ Spoiler ]

Alec answers his phone after a few rings. "Hello?" His groggy voice spits out. "I wish I could help right now, but I got off a few hours ago, nightshift kills, and now it's my day off." You explain about the link to Keller, and offer to get him the bullet which suprises him. "You see, that might be a little problem for me. I can try and connect some dots between Kote and Keller. It could be nothing, but if it isn't I could get the info to the people working on the case." Alec lets out a deep sigh. "But you realize that if I show up at the lab with one of the bullets that killed this girl, they're going to ask where I got it, and that's not going to be good for me." he pauses again and continues. "If it's the only bullet, then I hope you have an idea, otherwise, if there was another, I guarantee you they're prolly already running the trace.

[ Spoiler ]

You call Zina and receive no answer. Where could she be right now?

Jack and Hank

[ Spoiler ]

You two leave Ludi and Hank and head over to Rick Stone's residence. The drive is uneventful, and as you pull onto the street, you see his place, the wrought iron gates to the drive wide open. You pass by, taking a quick peek and see two figures in suitjackets talking at the front door with someone who appears to be Mr. Stone, who is still wearing a bath robe.

[Qillin]

Jack will say to Hank "We should wait till those men leave before going up."

[ Spoiler ]

pending any phone calls or perception rolls Jack will be eating him drive through while stacking out the place waiting for the 2 men to leave Stones place.

[FrostyNSO]

Jack and Hank

[ Spoiler ]

You take a good look at the car as you pass by, nobody seems to be inside it. You notice something on the dash. Maybe some sort of strobe light?

You guys stake the place out and after about five minutes, you see the suits at the door head back to their car. Stone closes the front door. When the suits make it to their car, you see them discussing something between themselves shortly. A few minutes later, they get in the car and drive off, the residence's iron gates shutting behind them.

[Mister Juan]

To Alec
"Well, I believe Miss Kote was shot twice... and since I only happened to stumble upon one of the bullets, you guys should have the other one. This affair is very important for me Alec... I swear that whatever you might hear about me concerning this isn't true. Please, trust and help me Alec. You should definitly look into the connection between the two murders.... and I'd owe you big time if you sent me the info concerning the Kote case. I promise you, you won't regret this."

Ludmila pull the plug out of her datajack with a sigh. Leaning back in her chair, she massaged her now hurting temple. This whole run was one big mess. In less than 24 hours, they had accomplished very little, and the Star now had a composite sketch of her going through the city. Using her wrist phone, she called back Zina, leaving a message to call her back as soon as possible. She did the same with her own home phone in Renton. All she really wanted to know was if Lana was doing alright.

For a few seconds, she was scared that the Star already knew who she was... but that was impossible. She was SINless, and any traces she had left behind couldn't be linked to her. She was still safe and in the clear. All she had to do was to lay low for a while. Let the heat dissipate.

She stared at Jacky's telecom unit for a few seconds, collecting her toughts. Once she was ready, she dialed Jacky's number.

"Hoi Jacky... I just found out that Miss Kote was probably playing both fields. She had a signed contract under Stone on her desk this morning, and I just found a copy of another similar contract... but under Charles'. Looks like she had an appointment with him, in two days, at Gianelli's, 8 pm. The Matrix rumors point out toward a managerial dispute... but it is official that Charles and Rick are working togheter. I suggest you approch Stone with extrem prudence. Consider the zone "hot"."

Still holding talking on the telecom, she started searching through Jacky's kitchen for something to drink. She had finished her pack of cigarettes early in the morning and being without a smoke was driving her nuts.

"Oh yea... tell Hank they got composite sketch of us now... I'm going to bark the Star's tree a bit more to see if I can find more.

[FrostyNSO]

Ludi

[ Spoiler ]

Alec sighs with despair. "Fine. They're going to run me over the coals if they find out I talked to you. You're not on your own line are you? When I go back in, I'll see what they've turned up in investigations, but I can't go poking around on my day off." Alec finally agrees. "It'd be just too suspicious. So in three days (counting today), I'll give you a call sometime."

[Qillin]

Jack on the phone with ludi" Thx for the heads up about the sketch. Some dectectives were just here talking to Stone. We were just about to go up, since the cops left but i think Hank should stay in the car now. We'll call you when we are done or if anything goes down." Jack hang up and finishs filling in Hank of what Ludi said. "Hank I think you should stay in the car and let me go up to talk to him. I'm sure the cops showed him the sketch's they have." Jack waiting for a responce from Hank.